Sunday, December 11, 2011

Headlines - Sunday December 11

Wouldn't it be nice to live somewhere where you actually liked who was representing you in Congress? Obviously there aren't many of those around when you look at these numbers. After my Democratic Congresswoman voted to support Comcast, I stopped voting for her and could care less if she's ever elected again. Let's see raised hands for readers who like their representative and tell us who it is and why you like that person. Cheer us up.

About three-quarters of registered voters (76%) say most members of Congress do not deserve re-election, the highest such percentage Gallup has measured in its 19-year history of asking this question. The 20% who say most members deserve to be re-elected is also a record low, by one percentage point.

This finding is from a Nov. 28-Dec. 1 Gallup poll, adding to the broad negativity toward Congress Americans have expressed this year. These include historically low congressional job approval ratings, low ratings of confidence in the legislative branch of government, and low ratings of confidence in Congress as an institution.

The 76% who say most members of Congress "do not deserve to be re-elected" is six points higher than the previous high of 70%, measured in August.

The "healing process" involves the pastor shouting over the person being healed for the devil to come out of their body, while spraying water in their face.

You know that the U.S. has fundie churches willing to put their flock's health at risk with false claims of healing HIV+ patients through prayer and purportedly "de-gaying" through "de-demonizing" people. Across the pond, from Sky News, an undercover investigation into practices at an evangelical church in Britain.

There is evidence evangelical churches in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow are claiming to cure HIV through God.

Sky sent three undercover reporters to the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), which is based in Southwark, south London.

All of them told the pastors they were HIV positive - all were told they could be healed.

Once a month, the church has a prayer line, where people from across Europe come to be cured of all kinds of illness.

This sounds like bullsh*t exported from our charlatan churches:

One of the pastors, Rachel Holmes, told Sky's reporter Shatila, who is a genuine HIV sufferer, they had a 100% success rate.

Ms Holmes said: "We have many people that contract HIV. All are healed."

She said, if symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhoea persist, it is actually a sign of the virus leaving the body.

On a point of curiosity, aside from the general outrage at this nonsense, is why do these sects not recognize, through the lens of their own belief systems, that God - through humans - has allowed the discovery and creation of medicines, surgical procedures, and all sorts of medical advances? Why is prayer alone the way to cure disease? It makes no sense - and in the end, doesn't work.

If those are not rhetorical questions, the answer is that science disproves religion, so freakazoids must reject all science and cling ever tighter to their myths. The "faith healing" con is just one of the more ludicrous manifestations of their fear of reality.